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User Guide



Using Map Features

This section covers how to set and use the map features, which include photos, roads, terrain, borders, buildings and models. Topics include:

Navigating Photos

You can fly in to and navigate photos, such as high-resolution images that appear in the Gigapxl layer. To do this, complete one of the following:

Gigapxl icon
Gigapxl icon

Note - Gigapxl photos are not available for all locations. If you do not see Gigapxl icons in the 3D viewer, try navigating to another area and zoom in.

Use the following controls to zoom or move in the photo. Note that these controls only appear when you place your mouse over the top right corner of the 3D viewer.

Navigating photos

  1. Click the arrows to move around in the photo. These arrows only work when you have zoomed in (see below). You can use your mouse or arrow keys to move around.
  2. Click and drag this thumbnail to move around in the photo. Double-click to zoom in. Right double-click to zoom out. The white box shows you what part of the photo is currently displayed.
  3. Click this to exit the photo and return to a standard view of the area.
  4. Use the zoom slider to zoom in and out. You can also double-click the photo to zoom in or right double-click the image to zoom out.

Adding Photos

You can add photos to Google Earth. Your photos cannot be viewed by other Google Earth users unless you choose to share them (learn more).

Note - This feature is distinct from adding image overlays. When you add a photo, it is located in 3D and does not appear as a ground level image overlay.

To add photos:

  1. Click Add > Photos... The New dialogue box appears.
  2. Enter the following information:
  1. Click OK when you have finished. You can view the photo as described above. You can return to the photo at any time by double-clicking it in the Places panel.

Note - Using Panoramio, you can also share your photos with other Google Earth users. Learn more.

Roads

The road layer displays road map information for the viewing area, including main roads, county roads and streets. This option is available in the Layers folder. In the Layers folder, you can expand the Roads folder and control the display for US, Canadian and many international roads.

While road information for a given view is always available, it is only displayed in the viewer when a logical distance has been reached. For example, if you are looking at a very large region, such as the southern area of a county, you only see major roads. When you zoom in to a more confined region, you see labels for those major roads, as well as for smaller roads. The figure below only shows the major highways for the states in view.

Major highways for the states in view

Tip: If you cannot see the label for a highway or a road, zoom in or re-position the viewer until the label appears. Typically, you need to zoom in to see the label.

Using Street View New!

In certain areas, you can view and navigate street-level imagery in much the same way you can in Google Maps. To do this:

  1. In the Layers panel, tick Street View. If this feature is available in the current view, photo icons Photo icon appear at locations with available views.
  2. Zoom in until you can see individual streets. Note that if you are close enough, the photo icons appear as spheres.
  3. Click a photo icon. A balloon appears.
  4. Click Show full screen. The 3D viewer displays imagery of this location.
  5. To move around, double-click photo icons that appear on the street. You can also look around, zoom and exit at any time (learn more).

Street View

Street View on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Tip - You can right-click (Ctrl + click on Mac) any photo icon to save that Street View to the Places panel.

Terrain

The terrain layer shows the 3D elevation of your current view. Elevation is limited to natural geographic features, like mountains and canyons, and does not apply to buildings. Turn this feature on to get an even clearer image of your favourite ski resort or canyon trail. You can turn terrain on by ticking the Terrain item in the Layers panel.

You can also adjust the appearance of the terrain if you would like the elevation to appear more pronounced in your views. To do this, complete the following:

Windows and Linux: Tools > Options > 3D View. Modify the Elevation Exaggeration value.

Mac: Google Earth > Preferences > 3D View. Modify the Elevation Exaggeration value.

The default value is set to 1, but you can set it to any value from 1 to 3, including decimal points. A common setting is 1.5, which achieves an obvious yet natural elevation appearance.

Tip: Because terrain data constitutes additional information, more time is needed to download this information to Google Earth. If you are not interested in viewing terrain data, turn this layer off for faster streaming from the server to the viewer.

Borders

You can turn on border information by ticking the Borders folder in the Layers tab. The Border checkbox turns on all possible borders, while you can expand the Borders folder to control display of the many kinds of borders, such as:

When turned on, border information for a given view is always available. However, as with road data, it is displayed in the viewer when a logical distance is reached. For example, if you are looking at a very large region, you will only see major boundaries. When you zoom in to a more confined region, you might see region or county labels depending on your viewing elevation.

Viewing 3D Buildings

Google Earth can display both simple and photo-realistic 3D buildings in many areas. To view these:

  1. Turn on the 3D buildings by ticking the 3D Buildings folder in the Layers panel.
  2. Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude over a major city such as London. Some 3D buildings start to appear from an eye elevation of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. Check the eye elevation meter on the lower right of the 3D viewer to determine your current viewing height. The 3D buildings appear as light grey objects over the imagery of the city.

    Position the viewer within a reasonable viewing altitude over a major city such as London
  3. As you zoom in, more details appear. Use the navigation controls to get the best view of the buildings.
  4. Place your mouse over certain buildings and they appear in purple. Click these buildings to view additional information from the 3D Warehouse.
  5. To hide a building, right-click (CTRL click on Mac) it and choose Hide building. Note that Google Earth does not display this building again until you restart the application.

    Use the tilt and rotate tools to get the best view of the buildings

Interacting with 3D Buildings

Once you display 3D buildings, you can also do the following:

Viewing Google SketchUp 3D Models

Tip - Some Google SketchUp models do not appear correctly in Google Earth until you turn off the 3D buildings layer. For more information, see Viewing 3D Buildings.

You can easily view Google SketchUp 3D models in Google Earth. To do this:

  1. Visit http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/
  2. Search for a model that interests you and click it.
  3. Click Download to Google Earth. Note that this option may not be available for all models.
  4. As you zoom in, more details will appear until you can see the entire shape of the model.
  5. Use the tilt and rotate navigation tools to get the best view of the model.

You can also place and create 3D models in Google Earth. For additional information, see Using Google SketchUp with Google Earth.

A Google SketchUp model of AT&T Park in San Francisco
A Google SketchUp model of AT&T Park in San Francisco

Tip - You can also view available 3D models using the 3D Model network link.

 

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